With the expanding use of computer networks, such as the Internet, an increasing amount of commerce is conducted electronically. Online merchants, manufacturers, and others have made virtually every type of product and service available to consumers via computer networks. Conducting commerce via computer networks is particularly useful because consumers can more easily obtain information regarding items to assist them in their purchasing decisions.
Nevertheless, at the present time, consumers still face many challenges when they wish to identify, review, and compare competing items as they make their purchasing decisions. In many circumstances, consumers are required to identify and visit multiple information sources, such as Web sites, to obtain information on different items, and further print out information for each of the items, to be able to compare the items. An effective comparison of items is sometimes extremely difficult, particularly when consumers do not know beforehand the identity of competing items to compare. Even if competing items are all available at a single merchant Web site, for example, the competing items may not be displayed on the same page, or if they are, an effective side-by-side comparison of the items is not provided.
Online merchants, manufacturers, and others using prior art technologies have attempted to provide consumers with side-by-side comparisons of items by asking consumers to specify (i.e., by checking a checkbox, etc.) items to compare, and then providing a Web page to the consumer displaying the items together on the same page. To facilitate the comparison, the consumer is typically presented with a table in which each column of the table is dedicated to an item and each row of the table identifies an attribute shared by the items. Under each item column in the table, information is provided to the consumer regarding the attributes of the items.
When providing an item comparison of this type, online merchants, manufacturers, and others will have previously identified and arranged the attributes as they wish them to be displayed to the consumer. Depending on the party doing the arranging, certain attributes may be emphasized in that party's self-interest without particular consideration to the attributes that truly distinguish the items or attributes that are more important to the consumer. Some comparison tables provide pages and pages of attributes that are difficult for consumers to wade through to identify pertinent distinctions between the compared items. Furthermore, as previously noted, for a consumer to obtain an item comparison, the consumer is required to already know which items are comparable and susceptible to comparison, and then designate those items for the comparison. In yet other circumstances, a consumer may be given a prearranged comparison table that has been generated and stored by a selling party, but such tables are static and possibly biased in that the tables include only those items previously selected by the selling party for the comparison.
What is needed is a system and method that can automatically generate item comparisons that are relevant to the consumer receiving the item comparison, and further present the compared items with distinguishing attributes prioritized for the benefit of the consumer. The present invention is directed to systems and methods that address the problems noted above and other shortcomings in the prior art.